Cheshire Dancer makes belated U.S. debut in Ladies Turf

If things had gone just a bit differently for Cheshire Dancer, she could have been in the United States earlier.

Trainer Hugo Palmer revealed that after the filly finished third in the Kensington Palace Stakes in June at the renowned Royal Ascot meeting, the Manor House Stable Syndicate was in serious talks to sell Cheshire Dancer to a U.S. buyer. However, that unnamed party was dissatisfied with the filly’s veterinary examinations.

“We had accepted an offer for her, but that was probably for considerably less than she is now worth now, so it’s funny how it goes,” Palmer told the European press.

Cheshire Dancer now comes to the U.S. on a roll. She followed her gallant effort at the royal meeting with a second in the Pipalong Stakes at Pontrefact, then won the Group 3 Valiant Stakes back at Ascot. She is now one of several Europeans coming in to run on the European-inspired course on the first Saturday of the Kentucky Downs meeting, entered in the Grade 3, $2 million Ladies Turf. Of that purse, $1 million is available only to Kentucky-breds through the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

“Sometimes, when these fillies find a rich vein of form and grow in confidence, they improve,” Palmer said. “It’s difficult to put your finger on how or why, but she’s found that magical moment.”

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Cheshire Dancer has won from 7 1/2 furlongs to a mile, and Palmer has said that a mile is her best distance. Although the Ladies Turf is technically carded at a mile, the undulations of the Kentucky Downs course – with the field actually running uphill in some places – makes the distance feel more like 1 1/16 miles.

Another European import may find both the distance and the ground challenging. Lady Ilze’s best effort came in winning the Group 2 German 1000 Guineas at a mile. That run came on yielding ground. Although Kentucky Downs cultivates a lush course, there has been a distinct lack of rain in late summer in Kentucky, likely to leave the ground harder than some of the Europeans are accustomed to. On good-to-firm ground last out, against the best company she has faced, Lady Ilze was fifth without impact in the Group 1 Falmouth at Newmarket.

One adjustment this filly will not have trouble with, however, is running the left-handed turns some Europeans have not yet seen.

“She’s not such a big filly,” Juergen Albrecht, assistant to trainer Andreas Wohler, told track publicity. “She’s small, and you have small turns. We think she’ll do well here.”

The lukewarm choice on the morning line is an Irish-bred filly who has been racing in the U.S. Special Wan won her first start stateside for Brendan Walsh, taking a mile allowance at Kentucky Downs last year. This season, she has continued to run well at the mile, taking the Grade 3 Honey Fox at Gulfstream before finishing third, beaten less than two lengths, against Grade 1 company in the Just a Game at Saratoga.

Other than Special Wan, Sacred Wish is the only entrant to turn in a top-three effort on this unique course, finishing second in the 2024 Ladies Turf. She won the Grade 1 Matriarch at a mile late in the year and was most recently was second by a neck in the Grade 3 Matchmaker to Segesta, who found her best form and looks for more here.

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Charlene’s Dream, the likely pace in this race, has won a pair of graded stakes this season. Pin Up Betty comes in off consecutive wins at Churchill Downs, including the Grade 3 Mint Julep over Charlene’s Dream.

Bowling Green Gold Cup

In the $1 million Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational at 2 1/16 miles earlier on the card, distance specialist Flatten the Curve, who turned in a creditable effort in his U.S. debut, returns from his base in Germany for another U.S. tilt.

Flatten the Curve came to the Belmont Gold Cup in June at Saratoga off four consecutive wins, including a pair of group stakes in Germany at distances ranging from 1 3/4 to 2 5/16 miles. However, the Belmont Gold Cup was rained off the turf late and cut back from two miles to 1 3/4 miles.

Flatten the Curve remained in the race anyway for disappointed trainer Hank Grewe, but gave a strong account of himself on the unfamiliar sloppy dirt. He made a middle move to work his way to contention in third before tiring late to finish fourth.

The gelding returned to Germany to win the two-mile Langer Hamburger in July. If the additional travel has not sapped him, and if he can handle the firmer turf, he should be poised for a strong run.

The defending winner of the Bowling Green Gold Cup is Limited Liability, who led throughout and poured it on in the stretch. After a series of graded stakes placings – many narrow defeats – at 1 3/8 or 1 1/2 miles, he was scratched out of the Belmont Gold Cup due to the surface change.

Because of that scratch, he likely needed a race, his first in three months, when he stalked early before tiring to sixth in the Grade 2 United Nations at 1 3/8 miles. Stretching back out in distance should suit him.

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